PMW 2026-073 by Larry E. Ball

Gentry note:
Victorious Hope Publishing released this book by long-time (now retired PCA pastor, Larry E. Ball. It is an excellent, fully orthodox, (partial) preterist commentary on Revelation. Larry’s pastoral experience and excellent research has allowed him to compose this very readable, very insightful Primer on the Book of Revelation. This article is his Introduction to the work. I highly recommend your buying it for yourself, and to recommend for a Sunday school or small group Bible study. Now for Larry’s introduction:

What is a Primer?

This book is intended to be a primer (pronounce like “prim and proper”) on the book of Revelation. A primer is a book for beginners, presenting the most basic elements of a field of study. It is a first step toward understanding something more complicated. Actually, a primer assumes you know very little about a particular subject. It is an introduction to a particular topic that may encourage you to pursue your own study in more detail and depth.

This book is not a commentary. It is not a word-by-word, verse-by-verse explanation of Revelation. I am mainly interested in moving through Revelation at a fairly fast pace without getting all bogged down in the details. If I move too slowly, I believe you will tend to lose the big picture and get lost quickly. On the other hand, if I move too fast, then you may not retain much of what you read. I will explore Revelation in chronological order (chapter by chapter). Sometimes I will cover several chapters at a time when I think it is more helpful.

Blessed Is He Who Reads: A Primer on the Book of Revelation
By Larry E. Ball

A basic survey of Revelation from an orthodox, evangelical, and Reformed preterist perspective. Ball understands John to be focusing on the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. Insightful. Easy to read.

For more Christian studies see: www.KennethGentry.com

From Sermons to a Book

This book is the result of a series of sermons that I preached at Bridwell Heights Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, Tennessee from June 2010 to April 2012. Years ago as a young minister, I thought to myself that I would never preach through Revelation. I considered it just too difficult. It is full of images, symbols, and metaphors. Who can decipher such a mysterious book? Besides, I am not a literary person. I find stories such as Peter Pan and The Chronicles of Narnia boring. I majored in mathematics and physics in college. Later on I became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). I have a very logical mind. I like numbers. I like debits and credits. I seldom read novels. Thus, I do not have a natural propensity toward a study of Revelation, a book that includes descriptions of crazy-looking monsters and creatures full of eyes with horns on their heads.

I have found two extreme perspectives in the church in regard to this last book of the Bible. First, I have found that many church leaders in some churches spend a great amount of their time on this book. They believe they have solved the riddles and have developed numerous charts which in their minds present a plausible answer to the book’s mysteries. They specialize in Revelation and prophecy.

On the other hand, I find that church leaders from many Christian denominations (including my own) mostly avoid this book. In very few of these churches will you find pastors who have either preached through Revelation or taught it in a Bible class. I think the reason may be the same reason that I avoided it for so many years. I was afraid of it. I did not believe I was competent to deal with the book. There are so many views on how to interpret it; who was I to even challenge the experts?

THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN
by Milton S. Terry
This book is Terry’s preterist commentary on the Book of Revelation. It was originally the last half of his much larger work, Biblical Apocalyptics. It is deeply-exegetical, tightly-argued, and clearly-presented.

For more study materials: https://www.kennethgentry.com/

However, a few things changed my mind. I was near the end of thirty years of preaching through the Bible at the church where I was the pastor. This is not to say I had covered the entire Bible, but I had preached a large number of sermons from many books of the Bible over this period. My style was exposition. That is to say, I generally preached through a book of the Bible verse by verse. Actually, my style was more expositional/topical. From most verses that I was interpreting, my sermon usually resulted in focusing on some topic that was related to the text.

After thirty years of preaching Sunday after Sunday, I was looking for a different challenge. One of the leaders of the church suggested that I attempt preaching through Revelation. He gave me some audio lectures by Dr. Ken Gentry and some audio sermons by Dr. Greg Bahnsen on Revelation. Listening to these tapes gave me the confidence I needed to preach through Revelation. For two years, I preached almost every Sunday morning from this book. Some folks wearied of it, but I persevered and they did too. They were very gracious.

While listening to one of Dr. Bahnsen’s sermons, I was convicted that it was a dereliction of duty for preachers to ignore Revelation since it is a part of the Holy Scriptures. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

If a man is to preach the whole counsel of God, this should include preaching through Revelation. Since Revelation is part of God’s Word, there is much benefit in it for God’s people. We are commanded to heed the words written in the book. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). Hence, the name of this book — Blessed Is He Who Reads. I concluded that indeed it would be a dereliction of duty for me to withhold from my congregation a series of either sermons or lectures on Revelation. I believed that it would be a mistake to withhold this blessing.

BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL
Doctoral dissertation defending a pre-AD 70 date for Revelation’s writing (459 pp; paperback). Thoroughly covers internal evidence from Revelation, external evidence from history, and objections to the early date by scholars.

For more study materials: https://www.kennethgentry.com/

This primer comes from the notes I used for my sermons, but it is not simply my sermons transcribed into a book. I decided that the most profitable use of my time (and yours as the reader) was to concentrate on the main verses in the various chapters that demonstrate the theme of Revelation as a whole.

This is a book for the so-called “man in the pew.” Other material on Revelation by other writers is available for the more scholarly reader. I believe there is a need for a concise and direct appeal to the average person in the church who is simply afraid to deal with Revelation. I took the jump and dived into the book. After jumping into what I thought was over my head, I actually came up breathing more easily than I had expected. I discovered it is not as difficult as it initially appears. As a result, I have been greatly blessed. I no longer believe it is a book to be feared or avoided. I pray that this primer which is in your hands will be likewise a blessing for you the reader.

Four Views on the Book of Revelation
(ed. by Marvin Pate)

Helpful presentation of four approaches to Revelation. Ken Gentry writes the chapter on the preterist approach to Revelation, which provides a 50 page survey of Revelation .

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com